Filenews 16 April 2022 - by Michalis Hadjivasilis
The authorities are oriented towards changes in the way migrants going through the Courts system for offences, are handled, in order to relieve the prisons from the problem of overcrowding. The Ministry of Justice is looking for solutions and is looking for places to detain asylum seekers other than Pournaras, until their asylum application is examined.
Congolese women who were convicted by courts for attempting to leave Cyprus with documents belonging to other persons are forced to sleep on the floor, while more than 250 foreigners are currently being held in prison for offences not related to common criminal law offences. Immigration is also affecting prisons, which is why the Ministry of Justice is looking for solutions so that people who are referred to the courts for offences related to their stay can be handled differently. The Commissioner for Legislation will recommend to the competent ministry that the courts be given the power to recommend the deportation of a foreigner instead of them being sent to prison and deported after their release, thus burdening the prison system. Today, any foreigner convicted of offences related to his/her entry status in the Republic and generally violations of immigration law, ends up in prison and, after his release, is deported, if his application for political asylum is rejected. This phenomenon is also observed in other countries, but in Cyprus it has been intense in the last year.
The treatment of these people, as highlighted by the Prisons, should be based on a combination of ensuring the respect of their human rights and at the same time respecting the laws of the Republic and EU law and always on the basis of the specific facts of each case.
We contacted the Commissioner for Legislation, Louisa Christodoulidou Zannetou, on the issue, who informed us that currently in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and Public Order, which is the competent ministry for prisons and the examination of a revision of the Penal Code, she is studying ways to recommend to the Ministry for possible amendments to legislation relating to criminal trials and penalties. Its recommendations may concern other ministries depending on the laws they will concern.
The aim is, as she told us, to give the power to the Courts to be able to have alternative ways of dealing with a convicted foreigner. In the case of foreigners, when there is a conviction by the Court, they are considered prohibited immigrants according to the Aliens and Immigration Law, Cap. 105, and deportation decrees may be issued against them by the Minister of the Interior, through the Deputy Director of the Civil Registry and Immigration Department, after serving the sentence or even before, if the Constitutional power of the President of the Republic has been exercised, of pardon.
On the issue of the treatment of foreign defendants and the possibility - alternatively of imposing a prison sentence - courts exercising criminal jurisdiction, according to the Commissioner, could be strengthened with the additional power to recommend to the competent body the deportation of the accused. "That is, after convicting a person for the offence for which he is accused, they should be able to submit, instead of imposing a prison sentence, a recommendation to the Minister of Interior for the deportation of the convicted person, when it comes to offences in violation of immigration law. It will not be about the judicial deportation that existed until 2019 in Greece, but it will be a recommendation for deportation.
Such power exists in the United Kingdom where courts under the Immigration Act 1971 have the power to recommend the deportation of an alien to the competent body. This can be done in the United Kingdom when it comes to an offence involving a prison sentence, when there is a conviction and then when the accused's position on his deportation is heard. If, of course, this is a case where there is no legitimate reason for deportation, the recommendation is not made. It is therefore a power which presupposes the consultation of the Court with the competent deportation authority.
As for the benefits of such a legislative regulation, Mrs. Zannetou said that it could be the non-imposition of a prison sentence after the conviction of people facing offences of a migratory nature, since the ultimate goal is to return to their country, which will be done anyway after their release from prison. This arrangement could also contribute to the current issue of prison overcrowding. The deportation will take place, provided that the application of the person affected for asylum has been examined and rejected.
From her investigation, the Commissioner told us that in the United Kingdom, this measure concerns non-British citizens over 17 years of age. Persons who are suggested to be deported by the Court of Justice are detained until they are deported in accordance with the UK Borders Act 2007.
Detention in a safe place until deportation
As the Commissioner for Legislation notes, in the recent law on child-friendly justice, the Children in Conflict with the 2021 Law, there is provision for alternative penalties which is something that began to be introduced into our law some time ago.
The Commissioner said that she is considering alternative penalties, probably to suggest the introduction of a provision in the relevant law, so as to allow the Courts to be able to impose, in relation to offences in violation of the Aliens and Immigration Law, in addition to the prison sentence, the detention order in a special safe detention area.
It is noted that the Commissioner for Legislation has the authority to submit ex officio proposals to the Government for the revision and modernization of the legislation as well as for the filling of existing gaps.
